My GMC at Home
Langley, British Columbia, Canada

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My other (original) GMC website: www.smallrvs.ca/gmc1

It didn't start out that way but I'm happy to say that's how it ended.
 

After the Moses Lake FMCA Rally we headed to Portland for some shopping at Fry's and Camping World and then made our way to the Coast via '26.

We were hoping for an RV or State Park where we might see the Ocean. Well, it's been many years since we've been to the Oregon Coast and the years have taken it's toll with reference to what some call progress, others commercialism. We headed towards Cannon Beach to check out the State Park and found it to be day-use only, no camping.

For the last few miles I had been noticing a trace of bluish atmosphere now and then and was trying to disseminate as to whether it was the Coast, my sunglasses or dirty mirrors as I didn't want to admit to anything worse just yet. After all, it's been a dream trip thus far.

We did a quick tour of Cannon Beach in case there there was a commercial Park that didn't resemble a Safeway parking lot, but no luck. Back onto 101 we headed North towards Seaside. Instead of going away the blue-ish atmosphere behind us became more pronounced, so much so that I had to call it trailing smoke.

Ironically we had both been to a Fire & Life safety seminar at the Rally, which made me realize that I had bare minimum of firefighting capability on board. Talk about wheels-a-turning.

Found a decent wide spot, which takes a little luck in itself, and out with the overalls. Yes, we're loosing fluid which eventually hits the mufflers to make for a nice smoke trail. Since the smoke was not from the exhaust, I.e. modulator failure, I could only fear the worst. Not knowing how many miles we had left before a complete failure I started to explorer solutions to our predicament. Of course it goes without saying that cell coverage was poor and wireless non-existent. Off with the TV and cabinet from the hatch cover for a snoop into the engine compartment to see if it's coming out of the vent. No such luck. I don't really know if that was good or bad as I knew it wasn't over full so had it been coming out of the vent it would've had to be something nasty. Black List was checked but I knew without looking that we wouldn't be that lucky.

Across the hi-way was a Tavern, the only people place in the immediate vicinity. I figured to start there and if it got real bad I could finish there. (Just kidding). No real help in the Tavern but the lady in charge told me of a campground just a couple of miles up the road. As we were still only dripping lightly at this point, compared to later, off we went after adding a quart (liter) of transmission fluid.

We checked in at the Circle Creek RV Park and told the folks about our predicament. Extremely helpful, they put is in spot where we would not have to move if our overnight extended indefinitely and got us some phone numbers of a local mechanic that occasionally does house calls.

By the time we backed into our space we had bread-crumb trails showing on the pavement. Unfortunately it was a trail of dripping tranny fluid, not bread crumbs. First things first... break out the electronics to see what we have. Lo' and behold, good cell coverage and good enough wireless. Looking better already.

From research family back home had done re local establishments plus the suggestion from the campground staff we had a starting point, or rather several it seemed. By now it was latish afternoon and it was time to reflect over a cool beverage while re-subscribing to the 'Net and organizing to collect information. Did our post via iPAQ and CDPD modem and refilled the beverage.

One of the first calls in the whole process went to Dunn's Transmission of Memphis, TN to confirm that they had a Tranny ready to ship and they did. I figured I might be able to find a local to re and re easier than rebuilding and besides I wasn't about to favor a rebuild by just anyone. By now the options where ranging from getting an exchange from Dunn to flat decking it home, with a few less drastic incrementals in between. True to form The 'Net came through with responses ranging from suggestions and experiences to I'll come and get you. Thank you to all that replied and also to those that suffered along in silence.

After a good night sleep all suggestions/options were thrown into the proverbial pot and decisions started to formulate. First decision was to hike into town to talk with the local mechanic that indicated he could help, but not before Monday. As this was only Tuesday, that was a long ways off. He did suggest a Tranny Shop in Astoria but the earliest would be Monday too and he was talking overhaul without even seeing it or hearing more about it so while I didn't discard him completely he went 'way down the totem pole.

It would have been nice to have had a Toad at this point but as it got squished a while back and as I don't like towing anyways, partly due to the loss of freedom of where I can go, it was not an option. Off we went, emergency backpack in hand, one mile to town, two to the NAPA store. We hadn't gone very far when a full-timer neighbor from the Park, an extremely nice Lady, offered us a lift. We took full advantage and returned with a case of tranny fluid, some stop-leak, extra wipes and an additional fire extinguisher suitable for gas and oil based fires. We were getting closer to the decision of making a run for home.

In the meantime Mike, from Dunn's, was trying his best to find a shop that they could be happy with to install their transmission. Needless to say, no luck there.
 

Wednesday morning... time to get ready. Empty the black and fill up the fresh. Rearrange the furniture to make for easier access to the tranny stick. Add two bottles of stop-leak and top it up with fluid and off we go after cleaning up the mess we left on the pad as best as we could. Before we go we confirm status of leak.

As we go though Seaside another stop at NAPA for some more Stop-Leak. All sold out. Guess I wasn't the only one with problems. Regarding Stop-Leak, please be sure read further comments down this page.

We stopped at two more NAPA stores to replenish Stop-Leak and fluid reserves. Topped up with fuel in case we'd have to run the GenSet while awaiting rescue. By this time enough residue remained on the mufflers and exhaust pipe crossover-Y that we smoked slightly as we fueled. Not a very comforting sight or feeling. Nobody else noticed, thankfully, so off we went with tanks 90-95% full. Less room for fuel vapor, at least for a little while.

Time to stop for lunch and a review of the current status of our predicament. We found a nice Little League field parking lot, totally deserted. An Oregon Tranportation pick-up followed us in to make sure we knew we had a problem. They also alerted us to the five mile killer hill we had coming up.
 

In reconnoitering our surroundings I found that lo and behold we had a grassy ditch I could park crosswise on to give me better access underneath if nothing else a good wipe down of accumulated fluids. As I maneuver onto my pit I loose motion. Yikes. Phew, just the initial two quarts low. Everything back to normal after adding fluid and we continue on the pit a'la natural'.  By now the drips had become somewhat more frequent but still short of being a stream. We were now about thirty minutes west of Longview, WA on Oregon 30. To call this a busy hi-way is an understatement. I bet the locals can hardly wait for the summer traffic.

As we inched our way closer to Longview by the GPS each mile got a tad more interesting as the smoke trail got a little more intense. The five mile hill didn't help it any. A sigh of relief as we crested the top. How come there is always another up and never a comparable down? This wasn't the first time experiencing that particular phenomena, seems like there is always more up than down. Oh well... by now we can see the bridge connecting Oregon and Washington. Longview being on the other side. The Columbia River caters to deep see shipping which makes for a very high bridge, as in steep hill up, two lanes only, medium traffic. Some silent words to the GMC gods and up and finally over we went. As we coasted down the hill into Washington I decided that it was time for another review. We spied a tire place with a big parking lot and took advantage of it. On stopping we still have some residual smoke coming out from underneath the coach and on checking the size of the puddle it was an easy decision to call it quits in Longview and to do a rethink. I went into the business whose parking lot we were peeing on, McCORMACK Tire FACTORY, to ask about Tranny Shops, etc. Most helpful folks. A big THANK YOU goes out to them which we delivered personally before we left town. The made several calls to see who could take a stranded vacationer. Vacationer... I had given up on that and was simply hoping to make it home.

Long store short(er), we ended up at AATCO TRANSMISSIONS, owned and run by Joe & Trina Patterson. True to form, I.e. seems we don't do anything the easy way, on the way to AATCO another Tranny place appeared and in I went as in this must be the place, phew. As soon as I was committed to go in however I realized we were in the wrong place and had we not been I would've left anyways. Just didn't get any good vibes there at all. By now we had realized our mistake in not following directions correctly and on we went. Pulled into Joe's place, he made room and got us right in, jacked it up and confirmed that we were leaking fluid and that the converter seal was the likely culprit. He showed me on another Tranny just what it might be and said they would get right on it first thing in the morning and if that's all it was we'd be back on the road by afternoon. Boy did that sound good. He moved a few cars to give us a place to park next to the shop and ran a cord so that we'd have electricity.

Back to the we do nothing the easy way department we noted that we picked the first day it got into the ninety's for our little detour. Not wanting to abuse the courtesy extended by popping a breaker we unplugged for a while and ran the Generac to give us enough power for the AC. After a few hours it seemed cool enough to let the fans and open windows do the trick so we switched back to shore power and settled in on a movie. Still got a little toasty but we were sufficiently happy to be where we were to ignore the weather related discomfort.
 

It's tough to sleep in under these circumstances so I readied the coach for boarding by putting our work in progress slip covers on the seats basically make it as ready as we can. A little after eight we were back on jacks and Joe's crew proceeded to apply their expertise.

During our initial introduction Joe told me how he was a member of what could best be described as a tranny family. His dad was in the business before him and it seemed he cut his teeth in his dad's shop on 400/425 transmissions, at least in part. Continuing the family tradition, his son now works in his shop.
 

A little after Ten the tranny was on the bench and by twenty after the clutches had been checked as well as the seals. Nothing broken that was visible and Joe recommended to re-seal and change converter. Converter and some neoprene gaskets were ordered from Portland, the rest he had in stock. By the time the converter arrived it was ready to go back in. I dare say that had he the heavy duty converter in stock it would've been all back in by noon. As it was, we went for lunch and when we got back they were just putting fluid back in.

All lines were blown out and internal and external filter was changed. With the Converter being new and empty of Stop-Leak contaminated fluids the consensus was that no Stop-Leak induced problems should occur for the balance of the Tranny's life. Life expectancy is expected to be good as no wear and tear was found.

Almost exactly 24 hours later we were crossing the bridge again, this time from Washington to the Oregon side and back to the Coast.

Stop-Leak: I will not be using it again unless it's totally hopeless and perhaps not even then, but never say never. The reason for the reluctance to use it is how it was explained what it does. As advertised, it expands rubber but the problem is that it doesn't quit and with enough time it could actually expand sufficiently to jam things up and cut a seal altogether. According to Joe, it is totally ineffective with a converter problem, even it it was the seal itself. The usual caveat... what YOU do is your business. I just wanted to be sure I did not leave the impression that it was Stop-Leak that got me to Longview.
 

Back at the Coast in Vacation mode, thanks to: Joe Patterson of AATCO Transmissions 438 Oregon Way-Suite B (behind United Batteries) Longview, WA 98632 360-578-1330 Joe's brother has a Tranny Shop in Vancouver, WA.